A strange 9o, how could a woman as beautiful and as wonderful as my wife put up with me for almost 59 years? It is a wonder, but she has stuck with me and has made my life a life of happiness and joy. It helps, of course, that she loves the Lord and as Matthew says, "love God and love others."
We have been married since August 9, 1959, after dating for three years. We would have married sooner, but we had to wait until Marlene was almost out of high school. A year after we married, I pulled her away from our families and all the people we knew and moved her to Kansas City as I pursued my dream of working in the airline industry. During that year in Kansas City, she became pregnant with our first son, Jeffrey Dwayne, so we decided to transfer to Chicago so we would be closer to home.
Jeff was born in McNeil Hospital in Berwyn, Illinois in January 1962. But after a year in Chicago, I received a promotion and we moved to Tulsa, where we lived for the next five years. It was in Tulsa, that the next two sons were born. In September 1965 Darin Eugene was born and in August 1967 Patrick Burgess was born. Darin and Patrick both came into the world at St. Francis Hospital in Tulsa.
In October, 1967 and without consulting Marlene, I decided that we would move back to our home town of Champaign. I applied for work with Ozark Airlines and in February 1968, I started to work. And although it turned out to be the best thing for us in the long run, I found out years later that Marlene cried all the way back to Champaign. She had developed some strong friendships there, which still exist today.
Three and a half years after returning to our childhood hometown, another child was added to our family. Our daughter, Gwendolyn Kay was born at Covenant Hospital in Urbana in September 1971. Now I am not saying that she is our favorite child, but after three boys, she does curry some favor. But, let me add this, my wife and I have been blessed with four of the best kids any parents could have.
About the time that Gwen was born, was the time that our marriage was greatly tested. However forgiveness both asked for and given prevailed and our love and commitment rose to the top and our love and marriage has grown and grown since that time.
After moving back to Champaign, I managed to squeeze in 1 year of college between Ozark and 2 other part time jobs, one being a school bus driver. Marlene also drove the school bus and between the two of us, we managed all three schedules of one bus; morning, noon, and afternoon. The other was driving a charter bus for Illini Swallow.
During our time in Champaign, we lost both sets of parents. In February 1978, my Dad died of pancreatic cancer. My mother died in July 1989 of multiple myeloma. Marlene’s Dad died in October 1986 from stroke complications and her mother died in December 1989 of heart condition.
In 1982, I went to work at the Sato Office at Chanute Air Force Base as an Ozark Airlines employee. While in that position, Ozark was bought out by Trans World Airlines. TWA was later purchased by American Airlines. The move to Sato eventually lead to our settling in Texas.
It was about this time in our lives that our nest began to empty. Jeff left for Olivet Nazarene College (now University) in 1979. Darin decided he wanted to try a stint with the military and he enrolled in the Army in 1984, eventually serving in Germany. Patrick enrolled at Parkland Community College in Champaign in 1985 and joined the Air National Guard in 1986, then Southern Illinois University in 1987. Patrick joined us in Texas in 1990 and lived with us until 1995 when he married.
Working in the Sato office at Chanute Air force Base lead to management in Sato Travel and leaving Champaign for good. In August 1990, I was promoted to Manager of the Sato Travel office at Griffis Air Force Base in Rome, NY. Marlene left her job at Champaign Unit Four Schools, which did not break her heart. She took a job as a receptionist with Metropolitan Life Insurance Company in Utica, NY. Gwendolyn joined us in New York, but only for five months. She moved back to Illinois and married in 1991.
After Twenty-two months in New York, I received a promotion to become Regional Customer Service Manager over a Navy travel contract and we moved to the Dallas area in June 1992. We lived in Lewisville for one year and then purchased our home in Flower Mound where we have lived since.
Marlene began working at American Hallmark Insurance Company in North Dallas in 1992 and worked there until she retired in 2003. Patrick moved to Texas and lived with us from 1992 to 1995 when he got married. Darin and his family moved to Texas in 1993.
Since my Dad had died in his early 60’s, I just assumed that I would die in my early 60’s also. This was not a fear for me, but just something that was on the forefront of my thoughts. And in early 1995, I felt as if God spoke to me and said, “Do not dwell on the thought of death anymore; you are going to live another 25 years.” Needless to say, ever since then, I have been trying to determine if God said, “another 25 years,” or, “AT LEAST another 25 years.”
About a year after arriving in Texas, I began to feel that God was telling me He had not brought us to this area for the job with Sato. And in September of 1995, I lost my job. I began to search for what God had for us. As different pieces of the puzzle began to fall in place, it was clear that God was leading me to counseling and I went back to college to begin my studies. It was then that I began to understand why God would tell me I was going to live longer. I would be 61 before I completed my degree. It wouldn’t make sense for God to put me through 5 years of
full-time schooling just to die. At least that was my thinking.
I finished my bachelors’ degree at Dallas Baptist University in two years and three years later received a master’s degree in Marriage and Family Counseling and a master’s degree in Christian Education from Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary in Fort Worth.
During my time in school I worked for American Express Travel Related Service in a call center. The benefits were great there, and God orchestrated every work schedule to coincide with my schooling schedule. I graduated from seminary in May 2001 and less than a month later, I was hired on as Pastor of Christian Life Development at Northshore Church in Lewisville where I served for two years. Unfortunately, no one’s Christian life developed in those two years.
After two years, I began to hear a voice in both ears saying. This is not what you trained for and not what you were called for.” One voice was from God and the other voice was from my wife. I resigned in October, 2003 to begin my internship and Marlene retired from American Hallmark Insurance Company at the same time.
I completed my internship in February 2006 and opened a private practice in October in Southlake. My connection with a number of churches in the Southlake and Keller area and my connection with New Life Ministry helped my practice to grow and prosper. Eventually, I decided to move my practice to the Lewisville/Flower Mound area to be closer to home. I have questioned this decision as my practice eventually diminished to the point of closing after moving to Flower Mound. But I lean heavily on the words of Paul, “And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose.” Romans 8:28.
In November 2013, I began working for the IRS as a seasonal employee. The only drawback is the travel time to and from downtown Dallas, which takes a lot of time away from my wife.
After the seasonal layoff from the IRS, I was contacted by the Executive Director of Lovenotes. Lovenotes provides ministers for weddings. I began conducting weddings for Lovenotes and during the few months with them, conducted several weddings.
My stint with Lovenotes ended when I was hired by Humana Mail Order Pharmacy in Irving. The travel time was much less and the position was permanent. After two years with Humana, I began to realize that at my age, the stress was getting to be more and more, so February 3, 2016 was my last day with Humana.
A strange feeling came over me that last day as I left Humana. I began to feel like a worthless non-productive member of society. I decided that I had to continue to do something. Of course, realizing that the retirement proceeds would not go far, I also knew that I needed to find a way to bring in a little extra income. My search for that led to my next venture. I developed an online coffee sales website called The Enjoyable Grind.
There is a lot that goes into creating an online business. And my research required that I find someone to develop a website, find a drop-shipper who would ship my coffee, locate someone to create labels for my coffee, and hire someone who would be able to get my website in front of people. The expenses quickly mounted and I took on an new task to bring in some additional income. At the end of December, 2017, I began driving Umber and Lyft. This has been quite an adventure and there is flexibility in scheduling. Furthermore, I get to meet great people and see placed and neighborhoods in the Dallas-Fort Worth Metroplex that I never knew existed.
The time and expense of operating an online coffee business kept me busy and the expenses exceeded the income. My greatest expense was due to not doing my own roasting. And I sold The Enjoyable Grind in June 2019. I continue to drive for Uber.
We have been married since August 9, 1959, after dating for three years. We would have married sooner, but we had to wait until Marlene was almost out of high school. A year after we married, I pulled her away from our families and all the people we knew and moved her to Kansas City as I pursued my dream of working in the airline industry. During that year in Kansas City, she became pregnant with our first son, Jeffrey Dwayne, so we decided to transfer to Chicago so we would be closer to home.
Jeff was born in McNeil Hospital in Berwyn, Illinois in January 1962. But after a year in Chicago, I received a promotion and we moved to Tulsa, where we lived for the next five years. It was in Tulsa, that the next two sons were born. In September 1965 Darin Eugene was born and in August 1967 Patrick Burgess was born. Darin and Patrick both came into the world at St. Francis Hospital in Tulsa.
In October, 1967 and without consulting Marlene, I decided that we would move back to our home town of Champaign. I applied for work with Ozark Airlines and in February 1968, I started to work. And although it turned out to be the best thing for us in the long run, I found out years later that Marlene cried all the way back to Champaign. She had developed some strong friendships there, which still exist today.
Three and a half years after returning to our childhood hometown, another child was added to our family. Our daughter, Gwendolyn Kay was born at Covenant Hospital in Urbana in September 1971. Now I am not saying that she is our favorite child, but after three boys, she does curry some favor. But, let me add this, my wife and I have been blessed with four of the best kids any parents could have.
About the time that Gwen was born, was the time that our marriage was greatly tested. However forgiveness both asked for and given prevailed and our love and commitment rose to the top and our love and marriage has grown and grown since that time.
After moving back to Champaign, I managed to squeeze in 1 year of college between Ozark and 2 other part time jobs, one being a school bus driver. Marlene also drove the school bus and between the two of us, we managed all three schedules of one bus; morning, noon, and afternoon. The other was driving a charter bus for Illini Swallow.
During our time in Champaign, we lost both sets of parents. In February 1978, my Dad died of pancreatic cancer. My mother died in July 1989 of multiple myeloma. Marlene’s Dad died in October 1986 from stroke complications and her mother died in December 1989 of heart condition.
In 1982, I went to work at the Sato Office at Chanute Air Force Base as an Ozark Airlines employee. While in that position, Ozark was bought out by Trans World Airlines. TWA was later purchased by American Airlines. The move to Sato eventually lead to our settling in Texas.
It was about this time in our lives that our nest began to empty. Jeff left for Olivet Nazarene College (now University) in 1979. Darin decided he wanted to try a stint with the military and he enrolled in the Army in 1984, eventually serving in Germany. Patrick enrolled at Parkland Community College in Champaign in 1985 and joined the Air National Guard in 1986, then Southern Illinois University in 1987. Patrick joined us in Texas in 1990 and lived with us until 1995 when he married.
Working in the Sato office at Chanute Air force Base lead to management in Sato Travel and leaving Champaign for good. In August 1990, I was promoted to Manager of the Sato Travel office at Griffis Air Force Base in Rome, NY. Marlene left her job at Champaign Unit Four Schools, which did not break her heart. She took a job as a receptionist with Metropolitan Life Insurance Company in Utica, NY. Gwendolyn joined us in New York, but only for five months. She moved back to Illinois and married in 1991.
After Twenty-two months in New York, I received a promotion to become Regional Customer Service Manager over a Navy travel contract and we moved to the Dallas area in June 1992. We lived in Lewisville for one year and then purchased our home in Flower Mound where we have lived since.
Marlene began working at American Hallmark Insurance Company in North Dallas in 1992 and worked there until she retired in 2003. Patrick moved to Texas and lived with us from 1992 to 1995 when he got married. Darin and his family moved to Texas in 1993.
Since my Dad had died in his early 60’s, I just assumed that I would die in my early 60’s also. This was not a fear for me, but just something that was on the forefront of my thoughts. And in early 1995, I felt as if God spoke to me and said, “Do not dwell on the thought of death anymore; you are going to live another 25 years.” Needless to say, ever since then, I have been trying to determine if God said, “another 25 years,” or, “AT LEAST another 25 years.”
About a year after arriving in Texas, I began to feel that God was telling me He had not brought us to this area for the job with Sato. And in September of 1995, I lost my job. I began to search for what God had for us. As different pieces of the puzzle began to fall in place, it was clear that God was leading me to counseling and I went back to college to begin my studies. It was then that I began to understand why God would tell me I was going to live longer. I would be 61 before I completed my degree. It wouldn’t make sense for God to put me through 5 years of
full-time schooling just to die. At least that was my thinking.
I finished my bachelors’ degree at Dallas Baptist University in two years and three years later received a master’s degree in Marriage and Family Counseling and a master’s degree in Christian Education from Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary in Fort Worth.
During my time in school I worked for American Express Travel Related Service in a call center. The benefits were great there, and God orchestrated every work schedule to coincide with my schooling schedule. I graduated from seminary in May 2001 and less than a month later, I was hired on as Pastor of Christian Life Development at Northshore Church in Lewisville where I served for two years. Unfortunately, no one’s Christian life developed in those two years.
After two years, I began to hear a voice in both ears saying. This is not what you trained for and not what you were called for.” One voice was from God and the other voice was from my wife. I resigned in October, 2003 to begin my internship and Marlene retired from American Hallmark Insurance Company at the same time.
I completed my internship in February 2006 and opened a private practice in October in Southlake. My connection with a number of churches in the Southlake and Keller area and my connection with New Life Ministry helped my practice to grow and prosper. Eventually, I decided to move my practice to the Lewisville/Flower Mound area to be closer to home. I have questioned this decision as my practice eventually diminished to the point of closing after moving to Flower Mound. But I lean heavily on the words of Paul, “And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose.” Romans 8:28.
In November 2013, I began working for the IRS as a seasonal employee. The only drawback is the travel time to and from downtown Dallas, which takes a lot of time away from my wife.
After the seasonal layoff from the IRS, I was contacted by the Executive Director of Lovenotes. Lovenotes provides ministers for weddings. I began conducting weddings for Lovenotes and during the few months with them, conducted several weddings.
My stint with Lovenotes ended when I was hired by Humana Mail Order Pharmacy in Irving. The travel time was much less and the position was permanent. After two years with Humana, I began to realize that at my age, the stress was getting to be more and more, so February 3, 2016 was my last day with Humana.
A strange feeling came over me that last day as I left Humana. I began to feel like a worthless non-productive member of society. I decided that I had to continue to do something. Of course, realizing that the retirement proceeds would not go far, I also knew that I needed to find a way to bring in a little extra income. My search for that led to my next venture. I developed an online coffee sales website called The Enjoyable Grind.
There is a lot that goes into creating an online business. And my research required that I find someone to develop a website, find a drop-shipper who would ship my coffee, locate someone to create labels for my coffee, and hire someone who would be able to get my website in front of people. The expenses quickly mounted and I took on an new task to bring in some additional income. At the end of December, 2017, I began driving Umber and Lyft. This has been quite an adventure and there is flexibility in scheduling. Furthermore, I get to meet great people and see placed and neighborhoods in the Dallas-Fort Worth Metroplex that I never knew existed.
The time and expense of operating an online coffee business kept me busy and the expenses exceeded the income. My greatest expense was due to not doing my own roasting. And I sold The Enjoyable Grind in June 2019. I continue to drive for Uber.